


The Truth Is In The Cards

by RushingHeadlong



Series: October Drabbles [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Early Queen (Band), Fluff and Humor, Gen, Smile (Band) Era, Tarot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RushingHeadlong/pseuds/RushingHeadlong
Summary: Freddie has a new hobby, Brian indulges him, and Roger thinks the whole thing is complete nonsense.
Relationships: Brian May & Roger Taylor & Freddie Mercury
Series: October Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982713
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	The Truth Is In The Cards

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Tarot + Brian/Roger/Freddie". 
> 
> This is gen but could be read as a romantic relationship as well and takes place sometime around late 1969 when the three of them were living at 40 Ferry Road together.

“You know none of this is real, right?” Roger says. “Please tell me that you know this isn’t real.”

“Oh hush, you,” Freddie says as he shuffles the deck of tarot cards. “It’s just a bit of fun. Brian knows that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Brian says, distractedly. He’s willing to humor Freddie but admittedly most of his focus is on the new song that he’s been working on for a few days now. He plays a bit of a guitar riff and asks, “Rog, how does that sound?”

“Like shit,” Roger says and Brian scowls deeply at him. 

“It sounds lovely, Brian.” Freddie thrusts the deck under Brian’s nose and says, “Cut this, please.”

Brian rolls his eyes but he does as Freddie asks, and Freddie gathers the cards together and deals out three of them facedown. “Now flip these over one at a time, please, and they’ll show us your past, present, and future.”

“How far into the future?” Roger asks. 

“What?”

“Well, how far into the future is this prediction good for?” Roger asks. “The next week? The next year?”

“Why does that even matter?” Freddie asks, peevish. 

“No, no, Roger has a point here,” Brian says. “If this is a ten-minute prediction I’m going to have to act quickly, won’t I?”

“It’s good for five years, does that work?” Freddie asks.

“Not really, I was hoping for some insight on how ‘76 was going to go for me,” Brian jokes.

Freddie sighs. “Just turn over the fucking cards already.”

Brian laughs, but his humor quickly fades as he turns over the cards. The first depicts a man carrying a bundle of ten sticks. The second, a group of humans rising from their graves as an angel blows a trumpet overhead. And in the third, a skeletal knight rides past the dead and dying. 

10 of wands. Judgement. Death. 

Roger peers over Brian’s shoulder at the cards and he says, “Well I don’t know what that means but it definitely doesn’t look good.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure it’s fine,” Freddie says as he stares down at the cards. 

“What does it mean then?” Brian asks him. “Don’t you have a guide to use to interpret these?”

“No, the girl I’m borrowing the cards from lost it,” Freddie says. “But she said you could figure out the meanings from the artwork… so… well…”

“So I’m going to struggle, be judged for my sins, and die within the next five years,” Brian says flatly.

“No, no, the guy carrying a bunch of sticks is your  _ past _ card,” Roger says as he points down at it. “That means you’ve already struggled. You’re done struggling. Just the judgement and death left now.”

“Oh, well, if that’s all…”

“Alright you two, that’s quite enough, I think,” Freddie snaps as he gathers the cards back up. 

“Sorry, Freddie, but those cards aren’t going to tell us anything important,” Roger says. Brian just shrugs apologetically and goes back to picking at his guitar. 

“How do you know? You won’t give it a chance,” Freddie mutters, a bit petulant.

He shuffles the deck again and idly draws a card to see what it has to say about his own future. Two of cups, paired with a boring drawing of a man and a woman exchanging chalices, and Freddie has no idea what on earth it could mean. Clearly Roger was right, and the tarot cards have no secrets to share with them tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> Brian's tarot reading is supposed to be the 10 of wands, symbolizing Brian's academic struggles with his thesis; judgement, symbolizing the choice he'll have to make between the band and his studies; and death, symbolizing his "rebirth" as a rock star after he chooses to stick with Queen. Freddie's two of cups is supposed to symbolize the "new partnership" of Queen forming in the spring and finding John the following year.
> 
> But I'm not an expert at tarot, so take all of that with a grain of salt ;D


End file.
